Senate Votes to Move Forward With Debating Obamacare Repeal

In a major win for both President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senate Republicans on Tuesday narrowly passed an important procedural vote on health-care reform. With the support of 50 members—with Vice President Mike Pence breaking the tie—the party agreed to begin debate on the House version of Obamacare repeal-and-replace legislation just days after leadership had said such a bill was dead on arrival. The two Republican no votes were Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). Every Democrat opposed the measure. The Senate will now consider amendments to the legislation, though leadership has hinted that they will settle on a paired-down product that will deregulate much of the individual health insurance marketplace, keep Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion in place, but result in an estimated 15 million more uninsured. A vote on that final bill could come in days. Only 50 members are needed for passage.